1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Robert "Bob"
PaisleyOBE (23 January 1919 — 14
February 1996) was an Englishfootballhalf back turned
manager. His association with Liverpool was to span nearly half a
century including his contribution to the club, first as a player,
then as a physiotherapist and coach, and finally as manager.[1] In nine
years as manager between 1974 and 1983, he took Liverpool to six
League Titles,[2]
three European Cups, one UEFA Cup, three League
Cups, five Community Shields and a UEFA Super Cup. Paisley is the only
manager to win three European Cups.

Contents

Biography

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Playing
career

Born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham (now Sunderland), England, Paisley joined Liverpool from
non-League Bishop Auckland F.C. in May
1939.[3]
However, as with so many of his generation, the outbreak of World
War ll delayed the start of Paisley's career. He eventually
made his long-overdue debut on the 5 January 1946 in Liverpool's
first post-war competitive match, which was an FA Cup 3rd round, 1st leg match at Sealand Road,
Chester
City. Liverpool won the game 2-0. Paisley's first goal didn't
come until the 1 May 1948 in a League game at Anfield, against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Paisley's 22nd-minute strike along with a Jack Balmer goal in the 80th were enough to
help the Reds win 2-1.

In the first full season after the war, 1946-47, Bob helped
Liverpool to their 1st league title in 24 years, making 34
appearances in the 42-match season. He remained a fixture in the
side, appearing in 30+ matches in 1947/48 and 1948/49 and 28 in
1949/50. The 49/50 proved to a season of both highs and lows for
Paisley, having scored the opening goal of a 2-0 FA Cup semi-final
win over Merseyside
rivals Everton
only to be surprisingly dropped for the Final against Arsenal, the Reds'
first ever appearance at Wembley. Paisley later said that
the experience stood him in good stead when it came to telling
players they were not going to play in big games, stating he could
tell them he knew how they felt and they knew he genuinely did.
Paisley became club captain the following season.

Coaching
career

After retiring as a one-club man in 1954, he joined the back
room staff as self-taught Physiotherapist and
had a knack of being able to diagnose a player's injury just by
looking at them. He later became a coach for the reserves. The
arrival of Bill
Shankly as manager in December 1959 transformed the fortunes of
the club. Shankly utilised The Boot Room for a second purpose, a
room for coaches meetings. Paisley was one of Shankly's founder
members of the boot room staff along with Joe Fagan and Reuben Bennett. Under Shankly's
management Liverpool won three league titles, two FA Cups and a
UEFA Cup over the next fifteen years.

Managerial
career

In July 1974 the man who rebuilt Liverpool, Bill Shankly, rocked
the very foundations of the club when, out of the blue, he
announced his retirement. Like thousands of Kopites, the directors of Liverpool pondered on
who to appoint as the great man's successor. Ultimately they turned
to the unassuming Paisley who, reluctantly, took on the mountainous
task of following Shankly.[4]

His record would better that of Shankly: Paisley led the team
for nine seasons, winning at least one trophy in eight of those.
Disappointed by finishing second in his first season as manager,
the team went one better the following year, winning the title.
This was the start of Liverpool's dominance of the game in England
- in Paisley's nine seasons in charge, Liverpool won six League
titles and finished second twice, won 3 League
Cups (the first time that Liverpool had won the trophy), 1 UEFA Cup,
1 European Super Cup, 5 Charity Shields and, most significantly,
they won the club's first 3 European Cups, with his and
Liverpool's dominance of the era in English and European football
only challenged by Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa
under Tony Barton.
He remains the only man in history to coach three European
Cup-winning sides (1977, 1978 & 1981). His success was honoured
with six Manager of the Year awards.[5] Only
the FA Cup eluded Paisley, although Liverpool would be runners-up
in 1977 and beaten semi-finalists in 1979 and 1980.

Retirement

Paisley retired in 1983[6] after
spending 44 unbroken years at the club.[7] He was
replaced by Joe Fagan,
another of the Boot Room old boys. He continued to serve Liverpool
as a director, until he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 1992.[8]
After his death in 1996,[8]
he was honoured by the club with the opening of the Paisley Gates
at one of the entrances to Anfield, complementing the existing Shankly
Gates.[9]

Quotations

"Mind you, I've been here during the bad times too - one
year we came second."[10]

"The sort of lad I'm looking for here is a kid who'll try
to nutmeg Kevin
Keegan in a training match... but then step aside for him in
the corridor."

"One of the things I keep reminding players is that when
you're lost in a fog, you must stick together. Then you don't get
lost. If there's a secret about Liverpool, that's it."

"This is the second time I've beaten the Germans here...
the first time was in 1944. I drove into Rome on a tank when the
city was liberated." - Paisley after Liverpool won the
European Cup in Rome in 1977.[9]

"I tell you something, they shot the wrong Kennedy." -
Commenting on Alan Kennedy's debut as a Liverpool player.[11]

"If you're in the penalty area and don't know what to do
with the ball, put it in the net and we'll discuss the options
later."[12]

From Wikiquote

Bob Paisley (1919–1996) was the
most successful football
manager in the history of Liverpool F.C. and English football in
general.

Sourced

"Mind you, I've been here during the bad times too - one year
we came second."

Notes: On his time as a manager with Liverpool F.C.

"Bill was so strong it was unbelievable. You couldn't shake him
off the ball. It didn't matter where he was playing, though I
suppose his best position was outside-left. He could go round you,
or past you, or even straight through you sometimes!"

Notes: On Billy Liddell

"Hey boss, do you think I look like a caveman?" - "I don't know
about that, but you bloody play like one."

To Alan Kennedy, dressed like a caveman for a photoshoot. (His
nickname was "Barney", after the Flintstone-character.)

"You may have found me mean and thirsty in my search for
trophies, but the bad news is the man who is taking my place is
hungrier than me. Fagan's the name and I don't think he'll need any
help from the Artful Dodger!"

Notes: On his assistant, and successor as manager, Joe
Fagan

"I just hoped that after the trials and tribulations of my
early years in management, someone up high would smile on me and
guide my hand. My plea was answered when we got Kenny Dalglish.
What a player, what a great professional!"

"I'll tell you something, they shot the wrong bloody Kennedy!"

To Alan Kennedy after a bad first half on his debut as a
Liverpool player.

About

"I owe Bob more than I owe anybody else in the game. There will
never be another like him." ** Notes: Kenny Dalglish on Bob
Paisley

"I go by records and Bob Paisley is the No 1 manager ever!"

Notes: Alan Hansen on Bob Paisley

"Liverpool wouldn't be the club it is today without Bill
Shankly and Bob Paisley and the players who played there. When I
first went there it was a typical Second Division ground and look
at it now!"

Notes: Ian Callaghan on Bob Paisley

"If Shankly was the Anfield foreman, Paisley was the brickie,
ready to build an empire with his own hands."

Notes: Tommy Smith on Bob Paisley

"I was Bob's first signing. He changed my life, as he did so
many others. He gave us great memories and you can't put a price on
that. He made me an adopted scouser."

Notes: Phil Neal on Bob Paisley

"Bob's knowledge of players and the game in general is
unsurpassed. Football has known no equal in management or
prize-winning, but his modesty and dignity were overwhelming as he
led this club from one triumph to another. His name will always be
synonymous with Liverpool."